Vehicle ingress and egress handle assemblies are provided on vehicles to assist passengers in getting into and out of cars and trucks. Such handles are typically mounted above the door jam or on the upper portion of a door hinge pillar.
Fixed handles suffer from disadvantages associated with passengers bumping their heads on the handles as they enter or exit the vehicle. To minimize this disadvantage, fixed handles may be located in more difficult to reach locations which tend to limit their usefulness.
Another approach is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,981,322 and 4,981,323 which disclose an assist strap for a modular headliner which has an ingress/egress handle that is biased to a stowed position by a helical spring. While this approach keeps the handle in its stowed position and out-of-the-way, this device is a relatively expensive multi-piece assembly which is normally retained in the "up" or stowed position. The helical spring prevents the handle from being held in its "down" or deployed position. This type of assist handle is of limited utility for passengers who are unfamiliar with the location of the handle because it cannot be seen from the exterior of the car.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,403,064 discloses attachment parts for a hand grip for the interior of a vehicle. This patent discloses a spring biased hand grip which may be provided with an undisclosed blocking device which can hold the grip body in the swing-out position during the hand grip installation process. This patent fails to disclose the concept of providing an ingress/egress handle which may be deployed in a stowed or a deployed position in which it is visible to persons entering the vehicle. It also fails to disclose a handle that will automatically retract to the stowed position if it is bumped or contacted while in the deployed position during either ingress or egress. It also fails to disclose a handle that will automatically retract if the handle is contacted by a passenger within the vehicle.
Accordingly, a need exists for a simple, cost-effective vehicle ingress/egress handle that may be retained in either its stowed or deployed position and that automatically retracts upon being contacted while in the deployed position. Applicant's invention, as summarized below, is believed to provide these advantages while addressing the disadvantages associated with the prior art devices noted above.